South African private equity firm Harith General Partners agreed to buy a 46% stake in larger rival Mergence Investment Managers.
The acquisition will help the two companies deploy their combined 59 billion rand ($3.1 billion) in assets to back infrastructure projects and other investments in Africa, Harith’s Chief Executive Officer Sipho Makhubela said in an interview. Makhubela didn’t disclose financial details of the transaction. Shandurwa Pty Ltd., a wholly women-owned firm, will also buy 5% of Mergence.
“The numbers currently don’t stack up well for Africa when it comes to the investment needed for its growing infrastructure needs,” said Makhubela. “This is why we did this deal, to grow Mergence as a financial services business, with a bias towards infrastructure assets.”
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